The Short on Time and Energy Workout: Celebrity Trainer Jackie Warner’s Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Fitness Routine

The Short on Time and Energy Workout: Celebrity Trainer Jackie Warner’s Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Fitness Routine

Curious About Cardio

I want to look extra hot in my holiday party outfit. Which cardio workout will help me shed the most pounds?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: A combination of spinning and running will give you the best results. Your body will never adapt to the workouts, and it will continuously burn fat. I suggest cutting your treadmill time to 20 minutes: Do a fast walk uphill for two minutes, sprint for the next two minutes and cool down for another minute. Repeat three times to equal four five-minute intervals.

Length Matters

Is it better to go to the gym more often for shorter periods of time or less often for longer durations?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: It’s better to train for shorter periods of time, more frequently. It’s not about how long you do it—it’s about how strong you do it. So go four to five times a week for 20 to 30 minutes of circuit training.

Savvy Strength Training

When I’m short on time, which muscles should I pay the most attention to during strength training?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: You should focus on the primary muscles (big muscles) like the chest, back, quads, hamstrings and glutes. Bodybuilders call these muscles the fat burners because they burn much more fat than smaller muscles like the calves, arms and shoulders. Try push-ups for your chest, assisted pull-ups or pull-downs for your back, leg extensions for your quads, lying-down hamstring curls for hamstrings and weighted squats for your glutes.

Circuit Tricks

Are there exercises I can do that combine both cardio and strength training?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: Cardio and strength training combined is called circuit training, my favorite, and it proves to be the best way to lose weight fast and keep it off. You perform one exercise with resistance and move on to another (without rest) until you have performed four to eight different exercises for all muscle groups. By doing this, your heart rate is up, but you’re working the muscles for tone, too. For example: Go from chest press (chest/triceps) to leg press (glute/quads) to back rows (back/shoulders) to squats (glutes/lowback) to chest fly (chest) to weighted lunges (glute/hamstring) to wide-grip pull-downs (back) to leg extensions (quads).

Don’t Throw In the Towel

During the holidays, I’m so swamped I sometimes can make it to the gym only once a week. Should I just give up completely until January or is once a week better than nothing?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: Focus on intensive all-over body workouts that will take you to optimal calorie burning and muscle building. Hiring a trainer is your best bet, but if funds are tight, find boot-camp classes and any kind of fighting classes like muay Thai or kickboxing. They burn the most calories and can help get out that extra holiday aggression and family stress.

No Rest Stop

I can get to the gym for only 30 minutes a day during the holidays. What’s the best way to spend that brief amount of time?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: Do three five-minute runs on the treadmill, alternating with weight lifting. For example, run for five minutes, then jump off and do a chest routine for five minutes; then run for another five, jump off do a leg routine; run for five more, jump off and do a back routine. That’s intense, and results are speedy!

What About Yoga?

If I have limited time to spend working out, should I forgo my weekly yoga class?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: Ditch the yoga and Pilates and opt for more calorie burning and muscle toning. Options include circuit training, boxing and boot-camp classes.

Burn, Baby, Burn

If I’m going to do only one fitness-related thing, what should it be?

Jackie’s Get-Fit Tip: Circuit training with weights burns the most calories, and your body continues to burn up to two hours after. Don’t you love when you can feel the burn throughout the day? I do!

No Gym? No Problem

But what if I can’t get to the gym?

Pick up a workout DVD you can do at home, on your own time. Workout: One-on-One Training With Jackie ($13, jackiewarner.com) fuses cardio and strength training to get your upper and lower body—and your core—into shape.